“She’s such a jazz snob. I couldn’t stand it, but I was obsessed with it because once we exchanged information, she would always be on her computer sending me MP3s (like), “Listen to this.” … We spent a lot of time on Skype talking about crazy ideas and she schooled me aboutSarah Vaughan. I schooled her about J Dilla. And she was like, “All right, we’re going to start a super group. You, me, Mos (Def) and Raphael Saadiq.” I was like, “OK.” And she assigned homework: “All right, study this record.” … I really miss not having her here to school me on jazz; I thought I was a music snob, and I thought I had my doctorate in jazz, but no. There’s so much more I could have learned. She’s a teacher.” (CBS News)

“She didn’t record like 2Pac, so that’s not the case,” Remi told MTV News of Winehouse. “There are definitely things that people hadn’t heard that have been recorded, but they’re in different modes in different forms. But she wasn’t a recorder like that. … She’d just do one take of a song, she’d write it and then she’d go sing it. Back to Black was a short album in comparison; it was like 37 minutes — [She was like,] ‘This is what I’m writing, this is what you get, underline, bye.’ … It’s not that type of [2Pac] recording process, but there are definitely a lot of things that people haven’t heard before or weren’t aware of.” (MTV)

A bittersweet treat. My Hot 97 family got the scoop on this new Amy Winehouse x Nas song, “Like Smoke” which posthumously fulfills the late singer’s wish to collaborate with her friend “Mr. Jones”. It’s a gorgeous retro-soul track, in typical Winehouse style and produced by Salaam Remi back in 2008. “Like Smoke” is the lead single offLioness: Hidden Treasures, a collection of songs Amy recorded before her death this past July. “…like a polygamist with a twist, will I marry again, maybe, I guess….I be out in London, Camden, hunting for the answers why the God take away the homie. I can’t say that I’m a firm believer that we all meet up in eternity. Just hope the big man, show me some courtesy….” (Miss Info TV)

After passing away last summer, a coroner’s report later emerged online claiming she died from alcohol poisoning.

Amy Winehouse died as the unintended consequence of drinking too much alcohol, a British coroner ruled Wednesday. Coroner Suzanne Greenaway gave a verdict of “death by misadventure,” saying the singer died of accidental alcohol poisoning. “The unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels (of alcohol) was her sudden and unexpected death,” Greenaway said.